Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest in Court to Protect Abortion Access for Low Income Women in Alaska

Lawsuit seeks to immediately block new regulation that severely restricts abortion coverage through the state Medicaid program

01.29.14 - (PRESS
RELEASE) Today Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest, represented by the
Center for Reproductive Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union
(ACLU), Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and Susan Orlansky of
Anchorage, filed a lawsuit in Alaska Superior Court challenging a new
regulation that could severely restrict abortion access for low-income women.
The Regulation seeks to circumvent a 2001 decision by the Alaska Supreme
Court that the state cannot discriminate in the provision of services under the
Medicaid program, and must cover abortions determined to be medically necessary
by a woman’s physician. Instead, the regulation establishes criteria
aimed at severely restricting the ability of low-income women to access
medically needed abortion services.

“Women’s
rights and access to reproductive health care are meaningless if bans on
coverage keep high-quality, safe, legal services out of reach,” said Janet
Crepps, senior counsel with the Center for Reproductive Rights. “The
ability of women who depend on Medicaid for their health care to obtain the
care they need from medical professionals they trust must not be interfered
with by politicians.”

If allowed
to stand, the regulations will go into effect on February 2, 2014 and will have
immediate and irreversible consequences for Medicaid-eligible Alaskan
women. The women impacted by this regulation are by definition,
low-income, and for many of them, the denial of funding for an abortion will
prevent them from obtaining medically necessary services, or cause delays that
could be harmful to their health.

“Every
Alaskan woman, regardless of income, should be able to make the pregnancy
decision that’s best for her,” said Chris Charbonneau, CEO of Planned
Parenthood of the Great Northwest. “The Alaska Supreme Court has already
ruled that women’s pregnancy decisions must be given equal protection under the
law. Politicians and government officials in Juneau should not decide what
is ‘medically necessary’ – that’s a private matter between a woman and her
doctor.”

Despite
strong constitutional protections for abortion coverage, politicians in Alaska
have a long history of attempting to improperly restrict Medicaid coverage of
abortion. This new regulation is yet another attempt to interfere with
low-income women’s access to abortion services in the state.

“This
extreme measure will have devastating consequences for low-income women,” said
Brigitte Amiri, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom
Project. “We hope the court will block this measure to ensure that low-income
women are able to obtain the health care that they need.”